A trip to beautiful Costa Rica is relatively easy for American travelers, but there are several tips you should keep in mind.
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Skip the ATM
The Costa Rican currency is the colón, but you will not need it during your trip. Instead, skip the ATM and bring U.S. dollars and credit cards with you. Almost all places take credit cards, and everyone accepts U.S. dollars. Just make sure your bills are in good condition with no rips or writing on them. I usually take $100 in $20s, $40 in $10s, $40 in $5s and $20 in $1s on my trips.
Rent a Car
Renting a car on your trip to Costa Rica will give you a lot of freedom to explore the country. You can book tours with transportation included, but having your own wheels will allow you to do things on your own timeline and explore off the beaten path locations.
Driving in Costa Rica
While it might be intimidating to consider driving in a foreign country, you will have no issues with managing it in on your trip to Costa Rica. You don’t need a special license as your U.S.-based license is valid in the country. They drive on the right-hand side of the road like in the U.S. Although the signs are in Spanish, they are the sames shapes and colors as in the U.S. The main roads are well maintained and easy to navigate. And Google Maps and Waze apps work well to give you directions where you are going.
Driving Challenges
There are two challenges driving in Costa Rica. First is that the roads are mostly two lanes only with no passing lanes or shoulders. It’s difficult to pass other cards, so it often takes far longer than you think it will take to get from point A to B. If the journey is 30 miles, expect it to take an hour to get there. But the scenery is gorgeous, so you will enjoy the extra time it takes to get places!
The other challenge is driving after dark. Make sure you are only going short distances after dark, and remember that sunset is at 6 p.m. every day of the year. We flew into San Jose at night and opted to stay in an airport hotel rather than travel the three hours to our final destination that night, and we were glad we did!
Make sure to check your routes to see if you need a 4×4 wheel vehicle. And make sure your rental car is automatic if that’s what you want to drive. Most vehicles in the country have manual transmission, but you can rent an automatic for a bit more money. Check out this website for more tips on driving in Costa Rica.
Rental Car Companies
You can rent a car from a variety of rental car agencies in Costa Rica. Some you will recognize and some you will not. Make sure you know if the rental desk and car lot are located at the airport or off-site. I rented our car from Avis through Priceline. The Avis office and car lot were not at the airport, and it was a bit confusing to find the complimentary shuttle. In hindsight, I wished I had booked the car through an agency that was at the airport.
Many travel bloggers who exclusively cover Costa Rica recommend renting from a Costa Rican-based rental car company to avoid surprises at the counter when it comes to mandatory insurance fees (see below). My recommendation is to check out both Costa Rican companies (such as Poas, Vamos, and Adobe) and request a quote from an international agency through AutoSlash. Then book the cheapest rate, keeping in mind that you will pay more because of the mandatory insurance fees if it doesn’t appear on the quote.
Insurance
One of my main tips for your trip to Costa Rica is to make sure you understand insurance requirements for driving in the country. Our Priceline quote did not include Costa Rica’s mandatory insurance. What was supposed to cost $175 for a four day rental ended up costing about $100 more once we added the mandatory insurance. Here’s what you need to know about insurance in Costa Rica:
- Level 1: Mandatory insurance that covers ONLY damages to other people, their cars or their property. If you only buy this insurance, the car rental agency may charge $2,000-5,000 to your credit card and will refund the charge once you return the car in good condition.
- Level 2: Optional Collision Damage Waivers that reduce your liability to the amount of your deductible for accidents only. You can also add tire protection and roadside service to this plan. The car rental agency may charge your card $1,000-3,000 for the deductible which they will refund once the car is returned without damage.
- Level 3: Optional Zero Liability covers just about anything that can happen to the car, like accidents, theft, vandalism, road damage, etc. The car rental agency might also place a charge on your credit card as a deposit, but it will be only a minimal amount.
Our Experience
Even though our Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card includes primary insurance on rental cars, we opted for the Level 2 coverage with tire protection and roadside service. It only added $80 to our bill and gave us peace of mind in case something happened. We still used the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to cover us for anything that happened to the car outside of accidents. And I think if we go back, we might just get the mandatory insurance since we are now familiar with the roads and driving in Costa Rica.
Pros & Cons of the Toll Roads
I am often intimidated by toll roads, and I hate paying to drive on them. But sometimes they are a good idea, especially in countries in Latin America. They can be more direct, better maintained, have more lanes, and be safer than the free roads in a country. However, avoiding toll roads often allows you to see more of the countryside and villages along the way.
In Costa Rica, we chose the routes on our map app to avoid toll roads. In doing so, we had gorgeous drives to and from our main destination of La Fortuna. Even though it took forever, we really enjoyed seeing communities and beautiful scenery from the road.
However, don’t be afraid of taking the toll road in San Jose on Route 27. The cost is negligible – about $2 or less – and they take both American dollars and credit cards. A sign that says “Peaje” will let you know a toll booth is coming up. Go into any open lane except the one that says “Quick Pass” (in English) as rental cars do not have this option.
Consider the Weather
We went to Costa Rica in February, which is the dry season. And the Weather Channel and the AccuWeather app said there was no rain in the forecast, even while it was pouring! So we were surprised that it rained half of our days in country. The dry season is technically December-April in Costa Rica. But as the locals told us, December through April are really the not-so-wet season. Prepare accordingly!
Pack Rain Gear
Even if traveling in the dry season, pack your rain gear. Wear clothes that are quick drying and take a rain jacket or disposable ponchos with you everywhere. You may want to consider packing two pairs of hiking shoes in case one pair gets wet. And having an umbrella can be handy, especially when walking around in town.
Think Twice about Pre-Booking Activities
Because the weather can be variable, you may not want to book activities. I pre-booked everything and we ended up riding horses and hiking to the La Fortuna Waterfall in the pouring rain and ziplining over the jungle with cold mist stinging our faces. I wished I had waited until the day of to book activities so we could consider the weather. There seemed to be plenty of options that could be booked through our hotel and at several places around town, and the prices were slightly cheaper.
Get in Shape or Better Yet, Reconsider Some Activities!
I consider myself to be in fairly good shape for a middle aged woman. I do some sort of cardio 6-7 days a week, practice yoga, and I even lift a few weights every now and then. So I was surprised at how much my muscles hurt after three days of adventure activities! Everything we did was relatively strenuous.
My tips for for avoiding this situation in Costa Rica are to only do one physically intense activity per day and not pre-booking activities. That way, you know how you feel before you are financially committed to the activity.
Also take advantage of some of the less strenuous activities available. Visit one of the many hot springs resorts in the Arenal area. Take a cooking class. Hang out at one of Costa Rica’s beautiful beaches. Or take a boat tour.
Immerse in the Local Culture
One thing that was missing from my Costa Rica trip were opportunities to better understand the local culture and history. It was easy to just do a series of adventure activities and nature excursions and not really learn about the people who live in this beautiful country. Here are some tips to make your Costa Rica trip more well-rounded:
- Brush up on your Spanish – everyone speaks English but will appreciate your efforts.
- You can find every type of cuisine imaginable in Costa Rica, but make sure to try the “typical” breakfast or lunch. This usually includes rice, beans, some sort of protein like eggs at breakfast, and chicken at lunch, and veggies. We were told to mix everything up at breakfast and eat it separately at lunch.
- Visit a history or art museum in the city you fly into, either San Jose or Liberia.
- Each activity you sign up for has local guides. Come prepare to ask them questions about their culture – they usually welcome your interest!
Stay Longer – or Plan a Return Trip
We chose Costa Rica for a quick trip because we could fly there free on Southwest and it did not take very long to get there. As I planned the trip, I quickly realized the 5 days and 4 nights I had budgeted for the trip would not be enough to see much of the country! We concentrated our trip on the Arenal Volcano region only and made the most of it.
So if you do nothing else from this list of tips for your best trip to Costa Rica, plan to stay in the country a little longer! There’s so much to do and see, but it does take a lot of time to move around the country. Or plan to go back multiple times, concentrating on one region at a time. Maybe we will go back next year!
What are your best tips for Costa Rica?
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